It’s that ‘Back To College’ time again – the time for new sketchbooks, empty notebooks, a fresh start and a whole lot of blank pages. But who knew that paper could be so incredibly limitless?

Well, the Proud Archivist knew it, and the designer Owen Gildersleeve knew it. Together, they’re launching the exhibition Paper Cut to show 25 of the world’s most critically acclaimed paper craft illustrators at their gallery in Regents Canal.

 
Owen Gildersleeve, Distant Aeons 

Paper artists such as Rob Ryan, Mandy Smith and Ciara Phelan will be showcased alongside the work of Owen Gildersleeve himself, an illustrator whose first book, with the namesake Paper Cut, examines innovative paper craft from around the world.

 

To celebrate the launch of this book, Gildersleeve will host the month-long exhibition in collaboration with other paper artists from his pages. Showing all the artists from the book, the exhibition will involve original paper artworks, framed prints and also play host to a series of artist talks and workshops.

Owen Gildersleeve’s work plays with light and shadow, resulting in multi-layered paper cuttings with graphical figures and hand-rendered typography. His playful creations won him the ADC Young Guns 9 award in 2011, and his work has been exhibited in cities across the world.

 

Paper Cut Events and Workshops

Several events are taking place alongside the free exhibition, to celebrate the depth and diversity of paper and the artists that use it. 

Cut & Paste – Party on down at the Lightroom Gallery at The Proud Archivist Gallery from 6-10.30pm on Saturday 30^th August. Surrounded by papercraft artistry, try Papersharp cocktails for one night only.

Sunday Brunch Workshops – Open every Sunday in August, a special guest will share  their knowledge and skills and allow visitors to experiment with their own Paper cutting. Free entry and open to all from 10am-5pm on 31^st August, and 7^th, 14^th and 21^st September.

The Artists Talk - A special series of curated talks featuring world renowned artists from the Paper Cut exhibition, including Rob Ryan, Shotopop, Elise and more. Tickets cost £5, but find more on each talk here.
 
 

Feeling inspired?

The private view of Paper Cut will take place on 28^th August, from 6-10pm, and the exhibition will run until 25th September 2014.

Read more on the exhibition here. 

Imagine a pen that could draw with any colour you wanted. Touch it to the red of your T-shirt, the blue of your curtains, the yellow of the fruit in your fruitbowl, and it imitates the exact colour of the object.

It something artists’ dreams are made of, but it’s no longer just a dream!

The Scribble is the world’s first colour picker pen, and is currently in production with the aim to bring the product to the market and open up the possibilities of colour to everyone.

“The idea that you can quickly pick any colour around you and instantly draw using that colour on paper or your favourite mobile device is an appealing one,” Scribble developers said.

 

A Kickstarter campaign was launched on 11^st August 2014 to raise funds for the production of the Scribble Pen, and the pen will be available as soon as the technology has been fully developed. 

The device works by using a colour sensor and microprocessor to detect colours and mix the required ink for drawing. It’s easy to use and the perfect size to fit in a pocket or purse, so that it can be used any time, anywhere to scan, draw, match and compare colours.

Alongside the Scribble Ink, a Scribble Stylus will also be released to connect with the free Scribble mobile app, so all captured colours can be shown via blue tooth and used on phones and tablets. 

The creators of the Scribble pen, Mark Barker and Robert Hoffman, have both spent their careers developing innovative technologies that make people’s lives easier. 

This exciting new development in the colour business is a tribute to the fact that technology and creativity go hand in hand – and that people will return to the joys and practicalities of colour time and time again.

Get involved 

You can take part in the Kickstarter and speed up the production of the Scribble here.

His work is renowned for its organic form - its roundess, its lumpiness, its smooth-looking huggable-ness. And now one of Henry Moore’s pieces has been unveiled as a landmark London railway redevelopment’s inaugural public art piece.

The Yorkshire-born artist and sculptor’s Large Spindle Piece has been installed at King’s Cross station as part of a £550 million facelift.

King’s Cross Square’s latest addition has been shown across the planet. It is a three-metre tall (9ft 10in) bronze sculpture, which Moore finished in 1974.

Officials hope the Moore will become to King’s Cross what the “Fourth Plinth” has become in its Trafalgar Square residence.

Network Rail’s Rebecca Harmer thinks the new piece will give the new-look station an “attractive” and “striking” focal point. She says the siting is particularly apposite. This is because King’s Cross is not only a gateway to Yorkshire’s Henry Moore Institute, but Hertfordshire’s Henry Moore Foundation in Much Hadham.

mclcreate, the event and conference equipment supplier, is set to oversee the unveiling of the Moore for the Network Rail.

The honour of revealing the piece in its new home will go to Richard Calvocoressi, who is the Leeds-based Henry Moore Foundation’s director.

It has already worked in tandem with the track operator on the colourful Victorian carnival festivities, which marked the unveiling of the station redevelopment last September.

More on Moore

Castleford-born Henry Moore, who died in 1986 aged 88, was a semi-abstract artist and sculptor most commonly remembered for vast, striking bronzes depicting the human form. He pursued classical, surreal and primitive forms throughout his career (and he drew a lot of sheep.) Moore said that his works were deliberately on a monumental scale, reasoning that size in itself brings its own effect. He believed that viewers can physically connect better with a vast sculpture than with a smaller one.

Large Spindle Piece

Moore liked this idea so much he made it in four different sizes. It is regarded as one of the sculptor’s iconic works, encapsulating the form and scale that he best liked to work on. One version was despoiled while on show in Houston, US. Vandals used metal chains to damage it.

It is not the only Moore exhibit that has been vandalised. A piece in Dumfries was decapitated in 1995.

Here's hoping the passerbys in Kings Cross will have more respect for the new artwork in their commuting midst - another triumph to add to London's public art collection. 

Image Credit:

Philip Toscano/PA Wire 

August is not only the last chance to catch the summer sun’s rays, it'is also the final full month to catch some of the finest exhibitions in London before they close.

Make sure you don't miss:

Reflections of War @ Flowers

This leftfield exhibition to mark the centenary of the First World War examines psychological and physical ruination caused by warfare and violence.

Don't miss: Nancy Fouts’ Stretcher - a poignant take on the futility and destructiveness of war.

See it by: Saturday 30th August
 

British Folk Art @ Tate Britain

This is thought to be the inaugural full-scale exhibition to celebrate folk art in Britain.

Toby jugs, ship figureheads and eccentric shops signs all feature.

Some of the country’s finest unsung artists in this traditional genre are represented in Tate Britain’s idiosyncratic display. 

Perhaps weirdest of all is the cockerel sculpture crafted during the 19th-century Napoleonic Wars. The artists? French prisoners-of-war. The medium? Mutton bones. 

Don't miss: One of the most striking exhibits here is the thatch-crafted, larger-than-life depiction of King Alfred, 

See it by: Sunday 31st August

Henri Matisse’s The Cut-Outs @ Tate Britain

The French modern-art master’s swansong - when he started the innovative medium of carving into colours - is examined here. The Times calls the exhibition “unmissable”.

Don't miss: The greatest amount of Matisse’s Blue Nudes paper collages exhibited under the same roof. 

See it by: Sunday 7th September

Read about Cass Art's private tour and exclusive interview with the curator here. 

Making Colour @ The National Gallery

Where would we be without colour? The departure from a monochrome world is mapped here, from crushed insects to sparkling minerals. Visitors may be stunned at some of the materials used for pigments across the centuries. The impressionist and renaissance movements are both featured alongside mediums such as textiles, paintings, glass and ceramics. The secret of how colour is made for creative purposes will never be a mystery again in this journey through verdigris, cobalt blue, lapis lazuli (blue) and green viridian. The exhibition also educates on how we register and perceive different hues.

Don't miss: A room devoted to silver and gold designed to dazzle.

See it by: Sunday 7th September
 

Image Credit:

Henri Matisse, Memory of Oceania 1952-3 

Digital image: © 2013. The Museum of Modern Art, New York / Scala Florence
Artwork: © Succession Henri Matisse/DACS 2014

John, Paul, Ringo and George. This fab four known as The Beatles were responsible in the swinging sixties for one of the most definitive albums of all time, ‘Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band’. However there is one person we have to thank (apart from his ex-wife) for that glorious iconic cover art with the 70 cardboard cut-outs of the band’s famous heroes including Bob Dylan and Marilyn Monroe; that person is artist, Sir Peter Blake.

Dubbed ‘The Godfather of Pop Art’, Blake (b.1932) has been at the forefront of British popular culture for decades. Renowned not only for his commercial work with The Beatles, Paul Wellar and Oasis but for famous paintings such as ‘On the Balcony’ (1955-7) and ‘Self Portrait with Badges’ (1961 on display at Tate Britain) plus silkscreen prints, woodcuts, etchings, graphics and collages.

 

It was an exciting treat then for the villagers of Guildford on 25th July when Blake decided to pay the Watts Gallery a visit for their special evening event ‘Watts at Dusk’. The gallery is currently holding a commercial solo exhibition of Blake’s work, titled ‘Pop Victoriana’ that includes a selection of work from the rare ‘Through The Looking Glass’ print series of 1970, the album artwork for Band Aid (2005) and more recent ‘found art pieces’ such as ‘To a Daring Child’ (2013). Blake started off the evening with his sold out lecture that exceeded gallery goers expectations as he presented a fun but factual account of his childhood, career and influences before tackling everyone’s questions afterwards. Did you know he originally coined the phrase ‘Pop Art’? That he fantasised about being an Abstract Expressionist and wants to make more paintings in this style in the future? And Blake’s favourite medium is actually watercolour!

Surrounded by idyllic British countryside and a warm summer’s breeze, the lawn outside the Main Gallery’s entrance then played host to the rest of the evening’s activities. Staff went to great lengths to incorporate both an Alice in Wonderland theme as well as Blake’s love of everything quintessentially British. A live jazz band performed for the artist while both children and adults played croquet, tucked into a summer barbeque sat at picnic tables - and the bar served summer’s favourite tipple, Pimms! Playing card garlands were scattered about and two members of staff were dressed as Alice and The White Rabbit to greet the children. Even Blake’s Pop Art double decker bus was on site for visitors to explore inside.

 

The ‘Collage a Record Cover’ activity, however, proved to be the most popular pastime. Everyone frantically set about collaging blank 7inch or 12inch record sleeves at the picnic tables while Blake sat amongst everyone enjoying the music, food and conversation with the villagers. The night drew to a close when Blake judged the winning record sleeve, awarding one lucky lady a copy of his art book ‘One Man Show’ by Marco Livingstone. Some were even lucky enough to get an autograph from this talented octogenarian. I was lucky enough to get special treatment after all the chuckles I had received from my appearance by the artist himself. I think you can guess why from my signed record sleeve!

By Sophie Filipiuk, Student Ambassador 

Feeling Inspired?

Blake’s ‘Pop Victoriana’ exhibition is running until the 31^st August at the Watts Gallery. 

Read more on the exhibition here. 

Get those pencils sharpened, those alarm clocks at the ready - it’s that time of year again…Back to College! With those lazy, hazy days of summer drawing to a close, we’re preparing to get back into the classroom by taking a look at two artworks that focus on our perceptions of education and learning. 

I Will Not Make Any More Boring Art - John Baldessari

In 1971, American conceptual artist John Baldessari directed students at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design to write ‘I Will Not Make Any More Boring Art’ on the walls of the gallery as if they were lines given out in detention, and then had the students make this print based on the installation. The artist was unable to travel to Nova Scotia to supervise in person, raising questions about authorship and whether it is the initial idea that implies ownership or our development of that idea.

This work also brings the role of artist as teacher to the fore and questions the extent to which learning should be prescribed. Baldessari is interested in the agreed but yet arbitrary rules of language that we follow and how our artistic notions - although not so rigidly prescribed - may be as ingrained, and as unquestioned as our grammar. As the artist explains “…a lot of my work was about questioning this received wisdom.”

 

The Severe Teacher - Jan Steen

Dutch baroque artist Jan Steen is best known for his humorous genre scenes; warm hearted and animated works in which he treats life as a vast comedy of manners. In The Severe Teacher the artist transports us back to the awkward growing pains of our school days. Moments of indelible shame are often softened by the rose-tinted glasses of time and distance into comic, character-building scenes.

In this oil painting from circa 1668, Steen captures a telling moment between teacher and student; the stern and superior disposition of the proselytising teacher seemingly taking some perverse pleasure in pointing out his students' ignorance, juxtaposed against the young frustrated student, reprimanded for his perceived ignorance, and embarrassed in front of his peers. Perhaps this can serve as a bright side for our returning students; you may not feel it now, but rest assured you’ll look back on these days and smile. 

Feeling inspired?

You can stock up on all your college essentials and art supplies - whether's you're heading back to school or art college,  we've got it covered in our Back To College range.  

Cass Art at Charing Cross has been an art shop for over 115 years now. Mark Cass bought it in 1984, and last month it underwent a well-deserved refurbishment, to bring light, space and the new look and feel inside its beloved four walls. 

We caught up with the Store Manager Mark Cutmore about the make-over, and to take a look at the Concertina Sketchbook made by artist and Cass Art staff member, Juliet Marsh. 

Hi Mark - how's the new shop going?

Hectic is the first thought that comes to mind! Literally as soon as we opened there were people knocking to come back in, which is great. It was really exciting to see people's responses - the double take people take after ten years of being in the same shop is really funny. I've had a lot of customers asking how we've made it bigger, and a lot of people are spending more time browsing and really exploring the products because it's a more pleasant space.



Do you have any new favourite products on the shelves?

The new Winsor & Newton Watercolour Markers are really brilliant - they offer a different way to use watercolour and people are taking a real interest in them.

How was the refit itself? There were rumours of you sleeping on the shop floor with pizza...?

Well the first problem we faced was that we were too proactive - so we finished too soon when we packed up the shop to begin with. So we all burrowed in the office, ate some pizza and watched Netflix until people could make the first train home. But also we asked a lot of the builders in the little time that we had, and they did an amazing job, but it meant the team had a very short time to get the shop back together again. They were incredible and we did it - just!



Can you explain the Concertina Sketchbook above? You sometimes have it on show in the shop.

Juliet Marsh, one of our part-time staff members, made this for us! She's a very talented artist and we have it on display in the shop when we aren't in a campaign like Back To College. It really tells a story of the surrounding London area and she's even drawn the Charing Cross team at the very end.

The Concertina Sketchbook in itself is great because it allows artists to really tell a story with their drawings, and brings a sense of narrative to their artwork. 

How's it feel to be running the shop where it all began for Cass Art?

It's so great to run the shop that startred it all. It's a year older than I am (as Cass Art, at least!) And we still get customers who have been shopping in this art shop longer than it's been a Cass Art store, which is pretty amazing. It's such a talking point. One customer once told the incredible story of how Lawrence of Arabia bought his ink from this shop. They had a letter he'd written to a friend detailing the art shop on Charing Cross Road where he went to buy his ink, and sure enough, they sent me a copy!



Feeling inspired?

Check out Juliet Marsh's (aka Little Miss Crafty's) blog here.

Our Charing Cross shop is now open with its new look and feel and built-in digital screens - but of course with the same old friendly staff.

Drop by any time or message us on Facebook or Twitter - we'd love to know what you think of the new shop.

It's September and time for Back To College, which for many of us means back to old tricks. But that's not all bad, because it means the London Design Festival is back for another year. 

Running from 13th - 21st September across a variety of venues, the annual festival celebrates London as the design capital of the world, incorporating talks, workshops and exhibitions to inspire the design-enthusiasts out there. What's more, we are offering a design-themed Prize Draw alongside the festival, so enter here for the chance to win an Artograph LightPad and some other technical drawing goodies.

Graphics Weekend

On the first weekend of the festival, the 13th and 14th September, the V&A will be hosting a Graphics Weekend that is totally free to attend. Visitors can learn how to build a career in graphic design, find out tips on studying design, grab advice on creating a portfolio, and join in with several illustration and design workshops run by The Concept Lounge. Here's a taster of what's on offer:

The Concept Lounge: The Mighty Pen 

Drop in and see the illustrators creating a mural, featuring workshops and live drawing by Animaux Circus, Alice Bowsher, Rachcel McGivern and Wai Wai Pange. Stop by and create your own artwork.

Animaux Circus: Dinner & Dreams 

Design a colourful paper feast for the guest of your dreams with the Animaux Circus team: dream big!

Joy Parade: with Alice Bowsher, Rachel McGivern and Wai Wai Pang

Make banners, posters and portraits about WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY! Sorry, we got a little excited there. Join us and celebrate happiness in all its forms, using your creative flair while you're at it.

Studio Tuck-Tite & The Concept Lounge: Off The Press

Help compile giant pages for the London Design Festival Zeen, with special guests from the world of graphic design, printmaking and illustration as your guides, The publication will be digitally disseminated throughout the festival so loads of people will see it!

Lord Whitney & The Concept Lounge: Playing Faces 

Take a wonderfully absurd selfie with Lord Whitney's photo booth. Amy Lord and Rebekah Whitney will be creating eccentric portraits from whatever curious odds and ends they can find – so embrace those coat hangers, shuttlecocks and lampshades and say cheese.



The Concept Lounge 

If that's not enough to wet your appetite, we caught up with Anjeli Plakzek, Director of the Concept Lounge, to find out more about them and what's on offer. 

Can you summarise what The Concept Lounge is all about?

The Concept Lounge is a creative consultancy that curates and produces exhibitions and events for the international design, graphics and illustration community. As a practice, The Concept Lounge takes an avid interest in the relationship between design, the individual and the community to explore how society and our environments mutually shape one another. By producing projects that allow designers and institutions the opportunity to promote and inform current practice, together we contribute towards the future of design and enterprise.    

Why should people attend your Graphics Weekend at the London Design Festival - what's going on?

There's so much to do, so join us at the V&A London Design Festival’s Graphic weekend for two fun filled days of immersive activity, featuring workshops and live draws throughout, designed for beginners and those wishing to develop their practice in the world of illustration and graphics.

Stop by for an insight into publishing and to create artwork for the London Design Festival giant Zeen with Studio Tuck-tite, Nobrow, Off Life and special guest illustrators as they work with visitors to develop and publish content.  Pop by on Sunday to take the ultimate selfie with Art Directors' Lord Whitney’s at their graphic inspired pop-up photobooth!  Also Animaux Circus are hosting ‘Dinner & Dreams’ workshops, creating a curated banquet on Saturday, and guest artists lead the inspired Joy Parade workshops on Sunday. 

If you could describe today's design industry in one word, what would it be?   

Invaluable.  

Feeling inspired?

You can find out more about The London Design Festival here, and more on the Concept Lounge here. 

Enter our Prize Draw with The London Design Festival by 11:30pm on 21st September to win a lightpad and other design-themed drawing prizes.

The great poets were arguably at their best when they were angry or depressed: Keats, Tennyson, Coleridge, Hardy - the numbers are seemingly inexhaustible. 

And so it is, very often, with art. What a sunny thought.

Somehow, you can’t imagine Van Gogh, Munch, or Kirchner and a whole hosts of artists being inspired by how content they are with life. To be at their stunning best, they needed something to rebel against - even if it was just themselves.

Yes, dissension is a great medium for creativity, as a new London exhibition at the V&A, Disobedient Objects, demonstrates.

What’s in the Disobedient Objects exhibition?

The display is the first one to explore the easily overlooked part of objects used in social change campaigns. They range from video games with a political bent, blockades and barricades, textiles which have borne witness to militant killings, protest robots, politically-motivated defaced currency, woven banners, and even teapots.

One artistic treasure among protestors is the inflatable cobblestone employed by the Spanish collectives of Enmedio and Eclectic Electric, during the 2012 General Strike in Barcelona. 

The thought-provoking collection is occasionally humorous, intermittently uplifting, and sometimes sad. It primarily focuses on the immense strength of creativity with grassroots crusades calling for political change, including innovations - plus enhancements - of existing technology.

The objects being shown have been borrowed from a number of activist groups from across the globe, including Greenpeace. China, Canada, Spain, Ukraine, Russia and England are among the countries that have leant protest items, and the collection has thrown up fascinating challenges for the museum’s technicians, conservators and curators alike. 

As this exhibition demonstrates, protestors all around the world find an expression to air their grievances, whether that's through blockades, riots, or even killings. There’s a delicious, unique Englishness, however, about the “votes for women” movement in the late 1800s and early 1900s at this show: suffragette teapots. That's right: a revolution built on a cuppa. 

Disobedient Objects will be showing at the Victoria & Albert Museum until 1st February.
 

Images Credits:

Installation Image, Disobedient Objects

© Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Inflatable cobblestone, action of Eclectic Electric Collective in co-operation with Enmedio collective during the General Strike in Barcelona,

© Oriana Eliçabe/Enmedio.info

We'e launched our Back To College campaign, but sometimes by the time September comes around, you've forgotten what you need to stock up on. Did you lose all your pencils? Are your paintbrushes washed and safely in your studio or dried hard with paint? Did you finish that sketchbook or do you need a new one?

The answer: new. Always new. It's an excuse to indulge your stationery fetish (we all have one) and start the new academic year afresh.  

So we've compiled a useful list of the essentials for anyone heading back to class - whether you're going back to school, or moving into a new studio at art college. 

School Essentials

Staedtler Triplus Fine Liners

These are the perfect fine liners for getting back into those exercise books...comfortable, quick-drying and in a set of black, red and blue, they're stylish but respectable enough so your teachers won't ban them from your pencilcase. (We've all been there with the neon gel pens that weren't allowed.)

Faber Castell Set of 6 Pencils

Get these sharpened and at the ready - everyone loses their pencils by the end of the year, but you'll want to hold onto these. In an assortment of hardnesses, the leads are break-resitant and smooth, ideal for both drawing and writing those sums or spellings.

Daler Rowney Soft Putty Rubber

A must have rubber for all those mistakes you'll make whilst learning. It's soft, doesn't leave smear marks and is available in two sizes.

Metal Triple-holed Sharpener

This sharpener isn't just any sharpener - it's one that gives you options and won the ISPA &Innovation Award.  It has three holes which allows for standard sharpening,removing the wood without sharpening the lead or sharpens just the point of the lead. Magic!

Stabilo Pen Wallet of 10 Assorted Colours

Bring some colour to the classroom with these high quality fine liners. With durable tips, they also last a long while if you forget to put the caps on. Perfect for those busy lessons.

Art College Essentials

Liquitex Heavybody Acrylics Set of 12 Assorted Colours

A selection of key colours, these paints are highly pigmented and vibrant. They dry fast, mix well, and are particularly good for heavy impasto work. A brand new set of quality paints is something every art student needs at the start of the new term.

Black Canvases

They're just awaiting your new designs! Grab yourself a pack of three Daler Rowney Simply Canvases and get stuck in with your new paintings straight away.

Cass Art Hardback Book

A blank sketchbook for all your new ideas is a must. Available in 3 different sizes on 90gsm cartridge paper, this sketchbook is ideal for drawing and sketching with pencils, graphite and charcoals. The paper is exceptionally white so it also scans well for digital work.

Cass Art Presentation Portfolio

Presentation is everything! And as an artist, you know it's true. This hardbound black portfolio will keep your work safe in all weathers, and looks sleek and unassuming so your artwork can do the talking. The sleeve rings are burst-proof so your work will always be protected, and it's available in three different sizes. 

Winsor & Newton Artist's Fixative

You can never have too much fixative - and somehow, it's never there when you need it! Stock up now so you can preserve all your drawings - it's quick-drying and transparent, everything you need to prevent smudges. 

He's the Big Friendly Giant of Illustration. He made the pelly's mouth open wide, gave George's marvellous medicine the bubbling brew it needed, and dressed Fantastic Mr Fox in a blazer and neckerchief. Yes, Quentin Blake is one of the most well-loved illustrators around today, and he needs very little introduction. (But we couldn't really resist.)

Now into his ninth decade, Blake's charming sketches that brought Roald Dahl's children's books to life are still as popular as ever, and his distinctive style shows no sign of diminishing.

So who better to have opened one of London’s newest galleries - and, moreover, a home and charity dedicated solely to illustration?

A selection of Blake's Roald Dahl sketches, and more recently his illustrations for the David Walliams books, is on show at The House of Illustration with Inside Stories. The exhibition will be running until the start of November.

The displays offers an intriguing insight into the award-winning Kent-born illustrator's work, showcasing initial drafts, storyboards and completed pieces.

The exhibition gives a sumptuous overview of an illustration’s evolution from the start of his career to the present day, with his flourishing use of several art materials including watercolour, pastels and inks.

 

Quentin Blake in 30 seconds

Few children - or adults, who were once children - can claim that they have never enjoyed Blake’s illustrations. One of his most beloved creations is Roald Dahl’s seminal BFG - his giant ears and kind smile connote one of the most heart-warming, yet frightening children's stories of all time, and are not exempt from the exhibition. Other illustrations include Dahl’s Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, Matilda and The Twits.

It must not be overlooked, however, that Blake is an author in his own right, and Clown remains a favourite among children. He became Britain’s inaugural Children’s Laureate in 1999 and has a gift for making a character’s personality ooze out of the page with a few gestural lines.

What is House of Illustration?

It is a new home for the medium of illustration, showcasing the emerging and the established, both international and nearer to home. It opened last month in the hub of King’s Cross’s innovative regeneration region. Animation, adverts, picture books, scientific drawings, fashion designs and political cartoons all feature within its walls. It provides a great introduction for anyone wishing to learn about illustration.

Event details

Inside Stories runs until 2nd November. 

Read more about the exhibition here.  

Image credits:

Sean Dempsey/PA Wire

This week has seen the Southbank Centre dedicate a festival to some of the best artwork produced by deaf and disabled artists.

 The Unlimited Festival started on Tuesday and runs until Sunday 7th September.

It is billed as celebrating disabled artists’ originality and artistic vision, featuring visual arts, dance performance, theatre, music, comedy and literature. World-renowned, boundary-breaking, taboo-challenging creatives such as Katherine Araniello, Claire Cunningham, Robert Softley Gale and Julie McNamara are among those on show.

Their unique take on Planet Earth examines a range of subjects, from a wild dinner party to a family-friendly circus; from sex-romp comedies to how religions around the globe look upon deafness.

Here are our top recommendations:

Let Me Stay

Playwright Julie McNamara’s touching love letter to her dementia-stricken mother will touch hearts. This magnificent portrait implies that Alzheimer’s need not be the end but, rather, a gleeful two-fingered salute to the world. Suitable for people aged 12-plus. There’s also a post-show chat after Thursday’s performance.

Dates and times: Wednesday-Thursday, September 3-4, 7.30pm-8.20pm.

Venue: The Queen Elizabeth Hall’s Purcell Room.

Price: £15.

Unlimited Unleashed

The BBC’s Liz Carr hosts a salacious jamboree of sensual disabled artists with speciality acts and striptease to the fore.

Dates and times: Friday, September 5, 10pm-midnight.

Venue: The Royal Festival Hall’s Clore Ballroom.

Price: Free.

Touched

Six young Diverse City disabled performers offer a stunning new circus presentation which examines the sense of touch. Whether saving a person with the edge, blush-inducing or one on your shoulder whenever fear calls, touch in all its different guises is explored in this joyous, airborne party.

Dates and times: Friday, September 5, 1-1.15pm, 2.30-2.45pm, and 4-4.15pm.

Venue: Below Hungerford Bridge.

Price: Free.

Doorways Project

Bekki Perriman’s sound and photographic initiative invites the audience to spare a thought for homeless people and their culture. It looks at the humour and ignorance related to the experiences of a life lived on the UK’s streets. Perriman’s analysis of some of society’s most unheard voices come from a position of knowledge. She has spent time being homeless herself.

Dates and times: Friday-Sunday, September 5-7, 10am-10pm, except Friday (4pm-10pm).

Venue: The Royal Festival Hall’s JP Morgan Pavilion.

Price: Free.

Feeling inspired?

Find our more about Unlimited on the Southbank website.  

Sometimes heading Back To College can seem like a bit of a drag. Choosing new pens and pencils and stocking up on fresh new paint is exciting for a while, but we do all miss the summer holidays.

Enter Montana Chalk Spray. That's right - the vivid colour Montana is famed for and the temporary nature of chalk is now available in an easy to use spray! It's sure to brighten up those Back To College blues.

Launched in the summer, it's the perfect product for art in college, too, because you can make temporary art works and joint classroom murals - only to wash them away the next day.

Top Tips

The chalk spray can be used on non-porous surfaces such as paper, canvas, glass, walls, wood and plastic. There's almost nowhere that your Montana Chalk Spray will miss.

It is perfect for temporary mark making in the garden or plotting out an installation or sculpture, or indeed if you want to cover a surface with colour for a short period of time.

 

Think summer murals and events in the outdoors before those Autumn months descend. These environmentally friendly chalk-based pigments sprays will stay for several days to weeks depending on climate and weather conditions.

If you want the chalk to be made permanent, simple seal it with a varnish and it'll stick around for good.

Alternatively, simply wash away with water and your surface/pavement/dad's car will remain as good as new. (Although we really don't advise spraying it on your dad's car in the first place...) 

 

With ten colours to choose from, the chalk itself is intermixable with water meaning that you can achieve different blending styles, washes and layers.

Montana also offers a range of nozzle widths for you to achieve more intricate details within your design.

As with Montana spray paints, it's advised to tip the can upside down after use and spray until the tube within the can is clear for next time.

Always use in a well ventilated area and read the safety instructions before you begin.



Feeling inspired? 

Prior to now, chalk spray has been a specialist requirement and arguably a nightmare to get your hands on, but now you can pick up yours in our Islington flagship store or buy it online. 

The leaves may start falling soon, as the Autumn season sets in and we leave Sketch Your Summer behind.

But the curtains of many art galleries are about to unveil a great array of new exhibitions, and we've rounded up six that you'll want to see before Winter sets in (bet let's enjoy the reds and golds this season first.)

Modern Masters in Print, Victoria Art Gallery

Four of the last century’s leading artists are depicted in their pomp across 50 pieces in this dazzling display. Dali, Warhol, Picasso and Matisse combine for a paradisal pageant of printmaking.

Must-see: Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe endures as one of the most easily-recognisable of any late-20th century print.

Opens: Saturday 6th September  (ends 23rd November).

Gerhard Richter, The Dick Institute, Kilmarnock

Is the 82-year-old German, as some critics claim, really the world’s most important living painter? Judge for yourself at this stunning display, which frequently uses photography for its beginning point.

Opens: Saturday 6th September (ends 6th December).

Lee Bul, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham

This is the Korean’s UK solo debut, featuring installations, drawing and sculptures. Famous for her cyborg sculptures, Bul challenges society’s perceptions of idealised bodies. Her newest work reflects her fears for the modern planet’s unsustainability.

Opens: Wednesday 10th September (ends 9th November).

Late Turner: Painting Set Free, Tate Britain

Swansongs don’t come more much more hallowed than this. Life may not have begun at 60 for this already celebrated all-time great, but Turner certainly showed no signs of regression during this golden period. The exhibition puts 150 of his works under one roof.

Must-see: The Blue Rigi watercolour. This stunning sunrise (1841-42) has won Turner fresh generations of audiences for its haunting qualities.

Starts: Wednesday 10th September (ends 25th January, 2015).

Rembrandt: The Late Works, The National Gallery

Another master who flourished in his later years. This tragedy-haunted genius is featured in his matured glory in the final, more expressive years up until his passing in 1669. It features 40 paintings, 30 prints and 20 drawings. 

Must-see: Any of the self-portraits the Dutch maestro was famous for. One, aged 63, is particularly candid in mirroring his declining features.

Starts: Wednesday 15th October (ends 18th January, 2015).

Revolution Avant-Garde Theatre: War Revolution and Design, The Victoria & Albert Museum

Liubov Popova, El Lissitsky and Kazimir Malevich are among those featured in this fascinating display of about 150 pioneering costume and set designs. These were made during the turbulent times of the revolutions in Russian and the First World War.

Starts: Saturday 18th October (ends 25th January, 2015).

Image Credits:

Image 1 -
JMW Turner, The Blue Rigi 1841-2

Image 2 -
JMW Turner, Modern Rome - Campo Vaccino 1839
The J. Paul Getty Museum

For most art students out there, it's time to head Back To College. For some, however, it marks the first September after they've graduated, and so a time of change and new beginnings.

Tommy Ramsay is a recent art graduate of Chelsea College of Art, and he hasn't slowed down one bit after the end of his course. He has been showing his paintings in several contexts ever since he finished last summer, and his most recent show, Forgotten Spaces, was a collaboration with several other UAL art students. 

Hosted at the Espacio Gallery in Bethnal Green, Tommy's paintings showed moments of the everyday that can often be overlooked - the crack in a pavement or brick wall, for example. We asked him about these 'non places' to dig a little deeper, and discover the thought process behind a painter who has just left art school.

Firstly, congratulations on the Forgotten Spaces exhibition. How did it come about? 

Well, myself, Jasper and Joe were on the same course together at Chelsea College of Art and shared studio spaces at different points. Fern went to Central Saint Martins and Elle went to Wimbledon College. I can’t really remember how we all met, but we were friends throughout college and have continued to be.

Was it your first show since graduating? 

No, actually - I was part of 2 exhibitions in Brockley, ‘Ways of Seeing’, a stand for emerging young artists at the Affordable Art Fair in Hampstead and more recently ‘Bigger, Brighter, Bolder’ at the Student Hub in High Holborn. ‘Forgotten Spaces’ was then held at the Espacio Gallery. I have been showing my work with Made In Arts London, set up by former UAL student Kate Rintoul who’s support has been brilliant. MiAL offer support and provide students who have recently graduated with a platform to the wider audience.

I consider myself to be somewhere in between being a student and an artist! I am not sure quite when the leap really happens. I have always felt that completing a degree in Fine Art does not necessarily enable me to call myself  ‘an artist’. I see becoming an artist as more of a life long pursuit. I think that art is aided by experience, which obviously comes with time.

That's very wise. And onto your own paintings. Your work depicts the ‘non place’, not only in the locations, but because they hover between abstraction and representation. Can you tell us about your thought-process before you paint?

I try to situate my work in between abstraction and representation. At present this is the area of painting of most interest to me. I feel it allows the right amount of space for the viewer – leaving room for the viewer, but not asking for them to make the picture! Though of course all painting is inherently abstract.

In terms of a physical process  before the painting, I gather images to work from. I go for walks and take photographs of what interests my eye. The paintings always move on from the photographs, but it is important to me that the paintings stem from the photographs. In terms of location, I often go to Deptford, Lewisham or New Cross (walking distance!). Some of the more recent paintings have evolved from photographs taken at the O2 construction sites by Thameslink DLR. These run-down spaces have decayed over the course of time, been altered and deconstructed by sometimes arbitrary change. These surfaces inherantly remind me of abstract mark-making in painting.

 

Once transferred into paintings, these markings and surfaces have a double play as being both a painterly marking and a real marking e.g. being both abstract and representational and engaging in an art historical context and being rooted in their source - the everyday. For me the opportunities for these experiences are common place. For example, a pavement has value as an image and has the capacity to be seen in multiple ways; it can be seen as concrete or it can be seen as space and form, time and history.

I think it is very important to follow where the painting leads you. Often a painting will be finished for me when it has reached its natural conclusion, when I feel that adding another mark will be unnecessary or take away from the feel in the painting.

Your paintings cover human residue like tea stains, and erosions of time. In this way there is something very poetical as well as detached about them. Is this intentional?

I think this is a way of thinking for me, perhaps slightly romanticised or old fashioned! The very nature of painting is itself a detached, singular but also somewhat self-involved process. However it has the potential be the opposite of detached and singular. Painting can be a place to offer up different experiences. I see painting as a vehicle to leave my own markings and to share feelings and experiences. It is an opportunity to speak indirectly and in a way that can be elevated by the viewers own experiences in relation to what is being offered up. 

 

Current culture is in a bit of a hurry, almost as if we are trying to live in the future. Technology offers us the world at our fingertips. We are being geared to constantly ‘update’, to want the newest thing, our lives are run by technology ) and we are constantly bombarded with commercial imagery and advertising instigating ‘information overload’. This is very obvious to all of us. It can be argued that as such painting should incorporate these situations and settings. It could also be said that we have made very little significant departures since the first cave paintings. The brilliant thing about painting is that it is very open at the moment – there is no one structure that should be followed.

I prefer to try and find these residues, erosions and spaces that have been marked by the passing of time. In some way these objects can become humanised or they can become signifiers -  a sign post for memory, for the past and for the continuation of time. These spaces translate very readily into the languages of painting but can go unnoticed and are not regularly considered worthy of our attention. I feel that this can be a space which provides a slowing down of time and a re-immersion into space, both as past and as present. I try and pluck these spaces and moments from the everyday and offer them up to the viewer in the hope that these thoughts are re-triggered outside of the painting.

What about your physical process – what art materials do you use, and why? 

I like using Michael Harding oil paints. The paint is very thick and malleable, and the colours stay true after they are set. They are on the higher end of the price scale, but I find that they last much, much longer than other paints. It could also be that due to the price you instinctively squeeze out less paint than normal!

Feeling inspired?

Visit Tommy Ramsay's website here.  

Internationally acclaimed illustrator Marion Deuchars has just released a brand new book, Draw Paint Print Like The Great Artists. Available at Cass Art before anywhere else, the book explores the radically different methods of 18 famous artists, and the Cass Art exclusive copy includes pages that are not in any other copies of the book.

A close friend to Cass Art known for her friendly, warm illustrations, Marion's Let’s Make Some Great Art books encourage art-making in everybody, and this new release is no exception. The new book features artists such as Andy Warhol, David Hockney, Paul Klee and Henri Matisse, but the Cass Art copy alone has an exclusive section on Georges Seurat. 

 

The father of Pointillism and champion of colour, George Seurat painted with dots that were very close together, so your eye would blend colours to make new ones. In this exclusive section, Marion guides you through the process of the Pointillist dots and shows you how to make a Pointillist Portrait in the style of Seurat. It's no secret that Cass Art is in the colour business, and our love of portraiture is evident in our involvement with the SkyArts Portrait Award and BP Portrait Award - so Seurat was the perfect choice for our pages!

Draw Paint Print is now available in all Cass Art shops, and we had a chat with Marion herself so she could tell us a little more about it.

Draw Paint Print Like The Great Artists is a bumper new book! How does it differ from your previous books?

It's a development of one aspect from my first book, Let's Make Some Great Art, which proved to be very popular. I've focused on 18 major artists, exploring their techniques and their thought processes. Through the activities in the book you can discover new working methods and new ways of exploring image-making. It may be something as simple as using scissors rather than a pencil, or being fascinated by a new shape or a playful exercise to take your imagination somewhere unfamiliar.

 

So how did you choose which Great Artists to include – was it difficult to narrow it down?

It took me a long time to finally select the artists in the book!  In the end it was mainly a personal choice, or chosen because an artist's work lent itself to a useful and interesting art activity.

Do you have a favourite Great Artist?

I have many favourite artists, but Matisse and Miro have been my favourites for a very long time. I just love their sense of colour and playfulness. 

 

Which is your favourite artistic exercise in the book?

It's got to be the one called 'Destroyed Drawings'. It's inspired by  the work of Philip Guston who said "destruction of paintings is crucial to me." He painted over many of his paintings. Destroying your drawing or painting can be a very good starting point for a new drawing or painting, and it takes away the fear of the 'white piece of paper'.

Why do you think people should look to other artists when creating their own work?

It's easy to copy, but that's not the point with this book. Every artist learns by looking at the work created by others, and then picks up bits of that, before makeing their own art in their own way.



Feeling inspired?

Draw Paint Print by Marion Deuchars is now available in all Cass Art shops and online for £12.95.

Marion will be hosting several workshops at Cass Art on the themes of her new book. Click here to find out more. 

A Draw workshop will be hosted in our Islington Flagship on Saturday 20th September.

A Paint workshop will be hosted in Cass Art Hampstead on Saturday 20th September.

A Print workshop will be hosted in Cass Art Kingston on Saturday 27th September.

When you’re immersed in the all-consuming creativity of art college or university, it’s easy enough to stay focused.

It becomes a totally different, more isolated challenge to keep your art going once you’ve graduated, and once you're removed from that community of like-minded makers.

This is where Q-Art comes in. It is an energising, supportive online and face-to-face community which is there for creatives throughout their lives, no matter how long ago you graduated. 

The clear message is that you don’t have to be a student to attend the Q-Art crits. The crits are monthly displays held across art colleges, which are open to all to either view or exhibit in. So the learning doesn’t need to stop even once you've left art college. 

What is Q-Art?

It is a 2008-established non-profit organisation, open to everyone interested in art, whether present or potential students, graduates or self-taught artists.

The group’s mission is twofold.

One, to dissolve the obstacles and link different art education models; and two, to make the functions of today’s art scene more transparent.

The group has a young, refreshing feel. with the vigorous impetus of being organised by graduates and students.This is then fortified by a group of often older Q-Art community members.
 

What does Q-Art offer art graduates and other artists?

First and foremost among Q-Art’s functions is the London crit. This is a monthly programme of exhibitions across the capital for viewers and exhibitors alike. Recent displays have been at The Florence, The Cass (not in any way related to Cass Art, just so you know!), and the university Goldsmiths.

December is an exciting month for Q-Art. This is when the group stages its annual showcase of exhibitors who have been featured in crits over the last academic year. 

Q-Art’s work is ongoing - they research new publications to help art students regardless of age and experience, they've set up a graduate profile division, and are constantly developing their learning tools. Such tools include presentation advice and its crit video.  They also host book launches and panel discussions to help artists in their lifelong learning process.

They also play host to a packed itinerary of gallery visits, to offer eye-opening insights into the vast variety of exhibiting spaces available and explore how they correlate with different audiences and artists.

How can you get involved?

Being an NPO, Q-Art relies on voluntary contributions from the public to sustain its London crit schedule. The group needs to reach its £5,000 target by the beginning of next month to meet its 2014/15 programme running costs.

 A contribution of £20 is all that is asked for to entitle subscribers to become a “friend” of Q-Arts. This entitles them to a whole 12 months’ worth of Q-Arts crits. Art lovers who persuade at least three like-minded culture connoisseurs to sign up will get recognition as one of Q-Art’s ambassadors.

You can contribute and subscribe here.  


Feeling inspired?

Carry on learning with Q-Art and learn more about their crits here.  

Stock up on your Back To College essentials, whether you're a student or not - and arm yourself with pencils, blank canvases and sketchbooks to continue your creative education. 

A postage stamp, a shop window, the cover of a Penguin book, The Guardian newspaper...what do all of these things have in common? At some point, they've all been doodled with the designs by the award-winning and much-loved artist, Marion Deuchars.

To celebrate the launch of her new book Draw Paint Print, we thought we'd take a look at the successes of her illustrations - and there are certainly plenty of those.

A Scottish-born artist, Marion attended the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee, achieving a First Class BA Honours in Illustration Print-making. 

She later went on to study Communication, Art and Design at The Royal College of Art, receiving an MA with distinction.

Internationally-acclaimed for her recognisable hand-lettering, she is the artist behind some of Cass Art's shop windows, and our Open For Art advertising campaign.

Her distinct style has also been used by the Royal Mail, when she designed six limited edition postage stamps to commemorate the Royal Shakespeare Company's 50th Anniversary. 

Her handwriting has also appeared in Jamie Oliver cookbooks, menus for the Italian restaurant chain Carluccio's, and Editorial Losada in Spain. 

 

Some of her most famous illustrative campaigns have been for the Samsung Galaxy smartphone, Formula One and Penguin Books. Her cover design for George Orwell's Burmese Days won the 2010 Book Cover Illustration Award from the V&A.  

 

The artist's love of illustration is actively shared in her interactive books, Let's Make Some Great Art, published by Laurence King. They are best-selling, activity-orientated books that encourage the readers to make, draw and explore their creative sides. In the same vein, in July 2014 she had an exhibition in the Park Gallery in her birth town of Falkirk that directly involved the viewers - engaging and educational, she wanted to make a show that was about touching, not just looking. 

Most of all, she wanted adults to lose the fear of drawing, and her books, exhibtions and illustrations to date are all about this - about encouraging others to see art as an accessible form of expression.  

Marion currently lives in North London with her husband Angus Hyland, who is a Partner at Pentagram Design, and their two children.


 

Feeling inspired?

Marion's Let's Make Some Great Art books are available in all Cass Art stores.

Hew new book, Draw Paint Print Like The Great Artists, is now available at Cass Art with some exclusive pages on Georges Seurat, which aren't available in any other copies.